2 October 2015  In her address at the General Assembly, Aksoltan Ataeva, Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the United Nations, introduced a proposal to set up a climate change centre specifically for Central Asia.

“The major ecological problems which exist in this region, I think,are well known. They directly or indirectly affect the overall atmosphere in the region as well as the standard of living and the quality of life of people living there and sometimes they have a negative effect on relations between States,” she said during the annual General Debate.

She also suggested that a centre with a UN mandate could carry out monitoring and could provide an objective analysis of the environmental processes occurring in the region and on that basis would be able to issue relevant recommendations to the governments of Central Asian States.

“The vision for the functions and the directions of all the activities of the centre already exist, and Turkmenistan is ready to provide for the centre all necessary infrastructure in Turkmenistan and to ensure the most favourable conditions for the work of the staff there,” she explained.

Ms. Ataeva stressed that there is a need to adopt concrete targeted measures aimed at supporting States and regions in which, due to various circumstances, issues of sustainable development are especially acute. She added that this project, which would create conditions for successful integration into modern global processes, would lead to stronger inter-continental partnerships.

She commended the UN on the adoption of Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and added that the challenge for her country to adopt these Goals would be to overcome imbalances in multiple fields.

She also asserted that the achievement of the SDGs in the region will not be possible without the participation of its neighbour, Afghanistan.

“The brotherly-Afghan people and the Government of this country are currently, particularly in need of political and moral support from the international community. They also need real tangible economic assistance. Time has shown that the resolution of the situation in Afghanistan will only be achievable through peaceful political means on the basis of a broad international dialogue with the participation of all responsible and constructive forces representing the Afghan people.”